My three years
by Kreion
Summary: As my first fic I am going to try a generic three years story, that shows how I envision the time gap that bought the two most stubborn characters in DBZ to the best pair in DBZ. VxB, R&R, be gentle plx :P
1. Introductions

(A/N): First chapter of my first fic :) Huzzah, no on too my view of the classic three years.  
Disclaimer_: I do not own DBZ or any of the characters portrayed in this story._

Three years. That is how long they had, three years of relative peace before a new threat emerges, one that had already covered the world in shadow in one time-line, and could not be allowed to do so again. So the warriors went their separate ways to start the long preparation for the horrors that where to come, with one man determined to prove his strength and regain his diminished pride. Vegeta.

Life at Capsule Corporation had never been a smooth one, well with two genii working with a vast amount of resources it was hardly surprising. Something interesting was generally happening, whether it be a new invention or project, or the threat of world annihilation for the third time that week, add that to the feisty heiress to the Corporation with her short fuse, and dull moments where hard to come by. Now a new element was introduced, the equally proud and stubborn Prince of Sayians...Vegeta, and already the sparks where flying between the two.

The blue-haired beauty looked as if she where in a trance when at her computer, her hands dancing gracefully over the key's , with only the slightest tough before moving on, and her eyes, focused and determined on the screen. When Bulma was working she normally attempted to block out all distractions, but since the arrival of a certain prince, that was proving difficult to say the least.

"Woman!"

Her new _title_ rang through the house in Vegeta's rough voice as it so often did, though she barely showed any recognition as she continued to work.

"Woman, get down here!"

Vegeta shouted again, growing more and more irritated with each second he was being ignored. He growled and clenched his fists before stalking off to find the insolent earthling who he was so often at odds with. Tearing through the house he searched for her or any of her equally annoying family to tell him where she was, finally Vegeta saw her ditzy blonde mother and stomped off towards her.

" Hey, bimbo, where in HFIL is the woman!"

Oblivious to his anger turned to see an irate Saiyan glaring at her.

"Why I believe Bulma is in the lab with her father sweetie."

Vegeta growled at her cheery tone, her happy smile, and her overall lack of fear for one of the most powerful beings in the universe, He briefly wondered why she was still alive, but decided to peruse this at another time. He had more pressing matters on his mind.

He angrily pushed past her to the lab that was built into the house's basement, or rather WAS the houses basement. Still smiling called after him

"You look exhausted dear, i'm sure a hunk like you needs some refres-"

**SLAM**

She was cut off by the door to the east section being slammed off its hinged for the ninth time since the prince had come to stay at C.C. Sighing softly she turned back to her kitchen and started to prepare a meal for later, and started to think about how similar Vegeta was to Bulma when they got into a mood.

_Down in the lab_

Bulma growled in frustration as she attempted to modify the plans for her latest project, originally it had looked simply enough to change, but with the new additions the plans where quickly getting muddled by the modifications. Sipping her coffee she continued to work on the plans with fire in her eyes, and a growing aura of irritation that was making everyone else in the lab nervous of the impending explosion of the heiresses temper upon whatever decided to interrupt her in her task.

As it happened Vegeta chose this moment to charge into the lab looking for her, when the employees saw his presence in the room, they immediately scurried out, fearful of the two most stubborn and irritable beings never-ending arguments.

"Woman I-"

Vegeta stopped when he saw he completely focused upon the flickering screen, growing more annoyed at this he was about to scream at her from the stairs until a mischievous thought entered the Saiyan's mind. Slowly he floated down the steps to her, and carefully controlled his breathing as he bought his face within centimetres of Bulma's ear, and screamed at the top of his lungs...

"WOMAN, STOP TYPING!"

Bulma jumped 2 feet of the chair before landing at an angle on it, and briefly widening her eyes before the entire chair fell over, dumping her on the hard floor. At first she was shocked at who had the audacity to do such a thing, then at once her eyes closed into slits of anger as she saw Vegeta arrogantly standing over her and smirking at her. She shot up from the ground and instantly had her face in his, screaming at him.

"WHAT THE HELL VEGETA. CAN YOU NOT SEE I AM BUSY YOU MONKEY"

Vegeta's smirk faltered momentarily before he retorted

"You call this work, I have seen children create better items than what you humans call _technology_"

The air around Bulma would have been boiling at this point if she had a higher Ki, but then she didn't need it to show her rage at the insufferable man, or Saiyan for that matter.

"If MY inventions are so bad Vegeta, why don't YOU fix the gravity room which I'm guessing You broke AGAIN!"

She smirked triumphantly as Vegeta grew more irritated

"Woman I am a Prince and as such do not do the menial tasks that you and your stupid race delight in!"

Now it was Vegeta's turn to smirk once more as Bulma's victory crumbled around her

"If it is so menial Vegeta, Prince of, how many was it, oh yes, TWO, Sayians, then it can wait until Tomorrow when I have finished this project!"  
Turning round she went to sit down after her ultimatum but was not surprised when he chair flew across the lab and embedded itself in one of the concrete walls.

"Listen woman, I am training to save your pretty little hide and all the rest of this stinking planet from those DAMNED ANDROIDS!"

Vegeta practically screamed at Bulma, before realising what he has let slip, he tried to cover it by quickly turning towards the exit and giving her a parting remark

"Fix it today woman or I will raise this complex to the ground and no-one will sto-"

"Aww thank you for the compliment Vegeta, I knew you had it in you"

Interrupted Bulma, not being one to miss a compliment, she walked passed him and blew him a kiss before exiting the lab with a wink as he stood there frozen by pure rage.

"No gravity room today Vegeta, even a hard-ass like you needs a rest"

Vegeta stood still for another 30 seconds before realising that Bulma had denied him training for a day, upon which he let out a roar which shook the foundations of the C.C complex before setting off to the mountains to let out his frustration at the woman.


	2. Sparks

Vegeta grunted as a huge explosion rocked the desert landscape, and turned round to obliterate one of the other rocks that poked out from the sand. The dust from his latest attack blew around him before starting to fall and settle slowly as he drifted towards the ground.

As he landed he recalled what had made him so irritated to leave to let of some steam. The woman. It had only be a few weeks and she was already a constant source of aggravation for the dark prince, whether it was her shrieking at him for the most insignificant of things, or her continual lack of respect towards him and his demands.

"_Damn woman_" Vegeta thought as he watched the shards of rock fall around him "_She has no respect for her betters, well we will see about that, it's time she leaned her place_"

Smirking cruelly at his new idea Vegeta began to consider how he could teach her some humility.

"_I really have no desire to kill her" _Vegeta resolved, half-irritated at the prospect of not having a simple solution for his greatest problem on the planet. "_The others would surely come after me, including Kakarot, and I am not ready yet_"

Vegeta's face visibly darkened at the thought of his own weakness, he recalled how helpless he had felt when Frieza had surgically removed his heart, not that he had one anyway. He turned and floated vaguely in the direction of his temporary accommodation whilst still thinking about his revenge on the woman.

"Aha!" Vegeta shouted out to the desert, he had his plan, now to enact it. Flaring his Ki he soared of towards, chuckling darkly as he neared the compound. Oh yes, that spoiled earthling would regret the day she took pity on him.

**Meanwhile at C.C**

Bulma lay on her bed waiting for Yamcha to arrive and relieve some of the boredom that she rarely felt, after Vegeta had tried to get her to fix the much abused gravity room. She smiled at the memory of the proud prince's slip up when shouting at her, and at how furious he had been afterwards. Not that she needed to be there to know that, the load roar and the hole in five lagers of the C.C building was evidence enough of where the angry prince had shot out of the building. But when she returned to the lab she had lost her interest in the work, so she decided to ring her boyfriend up for some company.

_Ding Dong_

The bell to C.C sounded throughout the complex. When Bulma heard it she grinned and shot to the door to get some much deserved love from her boyfriend. Opening the door and pulling him in, in one fluid movement.

"Hey Bul – woah!" Yamcha exclaimed as he was yanked into the house by his over zealous girlfriend. Pulling him into a deep hug, Bulma laughed as he slowly responded to the shock of the sudden movement.

"Yamcha!" She grinned at him, "I haven't seen you in an age"

He smiled sheepishly at her and took her hand as they walked towards the sofa.

"Sorry babe, it's just that with the androids coming I have been training a lot you know, and besides it's only been a month" Bulma's smile faltered as she thought of her new house guest with the mention of training "_torturing more like it, if it anything like Vegeta's training_" the thought as she remembered peaking into one of his training sessions.

-

**Flashback**

Vegeta had only been living at the C.C complex for around a week and already he was demanding upgrades t the gravity room to accommodate his ever increasing power and his relentless desire, no, NEED to become a Super Saiyan.

"Woman, why is your damned machine is not going past 150 times gravity!" Vegeta yelled at Bulma, who was tiredly soldering the circuits to a small device in her room.

"Because your royal ass, I am not going to give you the tools to kill yourself, or more importantly, damage any of MY property!" Bulma turned her attention back to the circuit board and continued to fix the small errors that one of her, now ex-technitions had made to the device.

"Woman that pitiful amount is not enough for MY power, I demand you upgrade it"

"NO Vegeta I am not your slave now kindly leave, so I can do some REAL work!" This time she had not even bothered to look at the irate prince who was glaring at her with contempt.

"I will not warn you again weakli-" Vegeta began to hiss in retort but was quickly cut off as Bulma whirled round to him

"Listen here you pompous prick. I have taken you in and given you somewhere to train so you can help destroy the androids and protect earth, NOT so you can become even more of a jackass and CERTAINLY NOT so you can defeat Goku. So be patient and I will consider upgrading it when I have the spare time!" Bulma finished the rand with a prod of the soldering iron on his pristine armour.

In an instant Vegeta grabbed the smouldering metal at the end of the device and crushed the metal in his fist before replying

"Do not test me woman, or I promise you will not see tomorrow, upgrade the gravity room, now"

Bulma stood there in a slight shock before slowly replying whilst backing away.

"The gravity room was being upgraded today by my father anyway Vegeta, just wait a few hours and it will be able to go up to 300 times earths gravity"

Vegeta sneered at her show of cowardice and strode out of the room to the gravity chamber, intent on seeing if the woman was telling the truth.

Later that night...

Bulma heard the whirring of the new engine in the gravity room and decided to go and take a look at her fathers new handiwork in action. Slowly she approached the metal dome, bathed in the odd red hue of light that the room produced, she continued to inch closer until she could see through the door window at the proud prince.

Vegeta was on his knee's, predictably having gone for 300g straight away and not being able to handle it, he was fighting to stand, fighting to breath, but not giving in. Eventually he stood proudly, back straight and head high, only to descend and actually start to train in these insane conditions, Agony etched on his once stoic face he continued to attempt push ups, before finally deciding to lower the gravity for a warm-up before his intense exercise.

Bulma had been watching this process in wonder and, even though she recognised the sheer arrogance and pig-headedness of the obsessed prince, she respected him a little more after she had seen the extent of his training, and how far he would go to break his own limits, training much harder than Goku had, without a hint of weakness shown to the outside world. Considering this she returned to bed, the dark prince lingering on her mind.

**End Flashback**

-

Sighing Bulma bought her attention back to Yamcha who had decided to make himself comfortable whilst she got lost in her own memory's. She turned to the television to see what he was watching, and was stunned into silence to see her long time boyfriend watching a show about "exotic" dancing. In her living room. On her t.v. His girlfriend. Anger quickly replacing the shock she felt, Bulma stood up and turned to look down on Yamcha, who had barely noticed her movement.

"YAMCHA, what the hell!" Bulma screamed at her boyfriend. Cowering into the sofa, Yamcha realised what he was doing and where he was, his training had been arduous for him, and he had no time to get out, resulting in taking great interest in the first show that was on, when it was about something he could really pay attention to. So meekly he tried to make an excuse to the irate beauty he had almost forgotten about.

"Uh Bulma it's not what it looks like, this was what was on the channel when I turned the t.v on, I wasn't really paying it any attention."

Bulma fumed at this excuse, but due to the fact that she had been alone with someone who REALLY irritated her for a month beforehand, and that Yamcha was her boyfriend and the fact that he was here was enough. Sighing loudly she calmed down and smiled at Yamcha.

"it's okay Yamcha, I forgive you, I suppose you have been under a lot of stress" Kissing him softly she sat down next to him and hugged him.

"So sweetie, how has your training been so far?"

Yamcha was confused at her sudden change, before quickly accepting this fortunate change and smiling back to her.

"well you know, Its tough, but I can feel myself getting stronger everyday, and I know I will be able to help our friends when we get down to fighting those freaky robots." Yamcha grinned at his own insult and put his arm around Bulma, who was counting in her head to stop herself retorting about the shear stupidity of his insult. Instead she grinned back and pecked him on the cheek.

"That's great Yamcha, I know we can beat them, and I know your power will be a great help to the guys!" _"unlike all the other times_" she found herself thinking, but she quickly shoved that thought away and settled down into her boyfriends, not really listening as he began a long winded story about baseball, and undoubtedly how he was brilliant at it.

Her eye's shifted to the door at the sound if opening, and in strode the Saiyan prince, with a cruel smirk on his face.

(A/N) ooo a cliffhanger heh, Vegeta and Yamcha in the same room is always a cause for enjoyment, and the Prince will soon get his revenge, don't worry :)


	3. Postponement

Discalmer: I do not own DBZ etc. etc. sigh :(

Vegeta stopped when he saw the weakling mate of the woman in the room; he had never really liked him, he was constantly a pain in Vegeta's side, and, unlike the others, never knew when to shut up to avoid seriously angering the short-fused prince.

Yamcha noticed the Prince walk in before Bulma, since she was barely paying attention to him and thinking of the vast amount of time that the two (her and Vegeta) still had to spend together before the androids.

"What do you want Vegeta?" Yamcha instantly asked as he stood up and got into a loose fighting stance.

Vegeta smirked at this threat, not that he considered it that, and simply pushed past him to the fridge.

"I require food, but that is not really any of your concern is it weakling" He smirked at this comment and watched Yamcha bristle with indignation.

"I'm a weakling am I...Grrrr, I'll show you!" Yamcha knew that he had been training quite hard over the past month, and was sure that he could take on the arrogant prince.

Bulma had snapped out of her thoughts about half-way through this interchange and was considering what to do: She could back-up Yamcha and insult the arrogant bastard now pigging out on her food, but she knew that if Vegeta fought Yamcha then within seconds, Yamcha would be a splat of red on the C.C walls, there was just no contest. Or she could try to calm Yamcha down, whilst irritating Vegeta, shifting his anger focus to her. She decided on the latter, since she was in no mood to have her boyfriend killed in her house today.

"Yamcha, calm it he is irritating you on purpose. Look at him he is enjoying it, he's just sick like that." Bulma repressed the thought that she also quite enjoyed seeing people fluster about when she insulted them, and concentrated on insulting Vegeta.

"Besides- you don't have to worry about him, he will never be half as strong as Goku so we will be fine" She smiled at Yamcha and shot her house-guest an arrogant look of superiority, enjoying the anger that darkened his eyes.

Vegeta was struggling to control his temper now, the blasted woman and her mate had both insulted him, multiple times. The should be DEAD for such insolence, but for some reason he was holding his rage back, he had a plan to complete after all. He returned to focusing on his food.

Bulma was now growing annoyed herself at the princes strange new game, not getting annoyed. So she made one last jab at his pride to check if it really was even Vegeta.

"Come on Yamcha let's leave Veggie alone, I am sure that he prefers to be alone, after all that time he spent following Frieza like a lost dog" Bulma made this last attempt at an insult, not realising how deep it it, or how much it hurt Vegeta to think about his time with the twisted lizard. In an instant Vegeta was on his feet, shouting his rage.

"HOW DARE YOU!" He screamed at Bulma's shocked face, she had not expected to get him so worked up in one comment.

"You insolent little bitch! You have fucking everything don't you, you lead a pampered life from your parents fucking cash reserves and you know NOTHING about my past! Nothing woman, so I would leave now, before I do what I should have done the moment I met you!" Vegeta ended his rampage with a deadly threat, but saw that the Woman and her pathetic "boyfriend" here still staring at him.

"NOW!" He slammed his fist down on the kitchen counter, twisting the entire row of surfaces into a deformed lump of metal.

The two scurried out, even Bulma was not fool-hardy enough to stand around Vegeta when he was in this kind of a rage, best to leave the angry prince to brood. Yamcha laughed out loud at Vegeta's sudden change in attitude.

"Man, that guy cannot keep his cool, he must have a rod up the rod in his ass." He laughed at his own joke and put his arm around Bulma, who was walking next to him in deep thought. "_I wonder what he meant about his past? I thought he was born a cold monster like that, maybe he wasn't? Was his past really that bad, I would have thought he would enjoy the life of the solider and the privileges that come with it. Then again he does seem to loathe Frieza more than anything else. What happened to him? I have to know." _Bulma finished her thought on this and resolved to find out more about her shady house guest, her minding instantly working on strategies to achieve this.

Vegeta however was once again torturing himself in the gravity room.

"How dare that woman think she knows me!" Vegeta roared at himself, doing push-ups under 150x gravity.

"I will show her! I will show all of those pathetic earthlings when I blow up this miserable planet!" At this thought Kakarot stopped his happy chain of thought. Vegeta growled at the thought of the orange wearing clown.

"NO! I will defeat Kakarot, I will obtain my destiny and become the legendary!" Vegeta trained faster and harder after this thought, struggling under the intense gravity.

He paused his session briefly when he remembered his payback on the woman. Vegeta smiled evilly and resumed his training, he would need to act soon to enjoy his revenge, the 'conversation' in the kitchen had made him forget about his plan, well after he had been insulted by the bitch and her lapdog. No, he had not forgotten completely, merely put it out of mind, and now, with this new insult from her fresh in his mind, he decided it was time to pay her a visit, for some long-awaited pay-back.

(A/N) No pay-back yet I'm afraid, but the board is set and the pieces are moving, Vegeta will get his revenge next time guys :D This chapter is a bit shorter than I would have liked but it serves it's purpose I suppose, hope you enjoy it!


	4. Jungle fun

Discalmer: I don't own DBZ...  
(A/N): the updates may take longer at the moment because I have a few essays to do and I am also playing mass effect a lot, but I will try to get at least a chapter every few days to a week. I will probably do alternating updates with this and my other story but it depends I suppose.

The room was an inky black as Vegeta slid silently through it, drawing closer to the bed of the unsuspecting female who had provoked his actions. Although he was excited to get some revenge at last for the bitch's unbound tongue, he did not feel that comfortable with invading her living space, sure he was a cold hearted murderer, but he was also a prince and would hold onto that part of him for as long as he could.

Gently he nudged her to make sure she was asleep, before slowly (in-case she did not have any garments on whilst sleeping) he removed her heavy blanket and took in her sleeping form. The darkness enveloped her, yet he could still make out her tangled messes of blue hair twisting around her pale face.

Shaking his head he gently lifted her out of bed, walking to the window swiftly he shot out at lightning speed.

Bulma woke with a start and with a multitude of emotions rushing through her: fear, anger, confusion and shock, but most of all these was anger when she realised who had woken her up.

"Wha-VEGETA" She screamed at the man carrying her through the frozen air that lingered high above the ground. Vegeta chuckled at her tone but said sharply to her:

"Quiet woman, you bought this upon yourself and I will not hesitate to drop your loud mouth to the ground" Vegeta was already growing irritated at the shrillness of her voice in his sensitive ear, but he had a plan to keep to.

Bulma was even more irate with the offending prince and struggled against his grip screaming at him.

"Vegata! Let me down you great ape, let me do-" She shot out of his arms as Vegeta let her down.

Bulma was still in shock as she fell, her mind simply processing the information that she was falling over and over again, barely registering her distance before she screamed out in terror, was this the end?

Strong arms caught her mere meters from the ground, and the once again soared above the cloud level, Bulma sniffed and weakly hit Vegeta's chest after her traumatic experience.

"...bastard" she insulted weakly.

Vegeta smiled at the insult. The woman had no idea, his fun was just beginning as he soared towards the dense jungle on the horizon.

Bulma had not spoken since the fall and had been starring out into the distance for remainder of the journey, occasionally shifting in his arms but otherwise not moving, Vegeta thought that she might finally be accepting his superiority and with a smirk slowed down over the giant growth of foliage that was sprawling beneath them.

Unknown to Vegeta, Bulma had not been thinking about toning her attitude down with the arrogant man, no quite the opposite, she was thinking of ways that she could return the favour that he had given her; that of pouncing on you when you are completely off guard and forcing you to be compliant. Her mind worked over-time as she considered his places of weaknesses...then rethinking about this she came to the conclusion that his only real weakness was the gravity room. With this idea set in her head she relaxed and considered where Vegeta was taking her briefly before thinking about something she had thought about earlier. Vegeta's past.

The man might be murderer and a cold heard one at that, but he was not a monster, she had seen that he had been shaped into something that he was not pleased with, he loathed some aspects of this but had great pride in others, such as his Saiyan heritage. She wondered if what he could have gone through to make him turn out so...so wrong. Besides, Bulma thought with a smile to herself, if he had wanted to kill me he could have done it by now, my father could replace me as far as he is concerned, but no I am still alive. Bulma mused on this thought before simply relaxing in the prince's arms, sure she had no idea what was going to happen, but what else could she do.

Vegeta was surprised at her sudden change in body language, from rigid and scared, to soft and relaxed in a few seconds. Vegeta found his mind on two sides with this action: She had let her guard down around someone...well someone like HIM, and that was extremely weak and foolish, a fact that had been battered, ticked and poisoned into him at every available opportunity by Frieza and he followers. On the other hand she showing trust to him...him! A being who had never shown any notion of being a trustworthy companion...more a psychopathic monster. He sighed and continued to consult this in his head before he found the clearing he was looking for.

Descending he smirked at her: She may have trusted him, or she may have simply been accepting of her fate, no matter she was about to get a lesson in respect for a Saiyan prince. Dropping her unceremoniously on the moss coated ground he growled angrily at her.

"Up woman, and welcome to your punishment." he gloated as he saw her face turn from shock ton terror as she looked around at the mass of trees on all sides. Flabbergasted she turned round to him and began to argue.

"NO WAY!" She screamed at his smirking features, which only increased the smirk.

"NO, Vegeta, I am not going to stay her for any length of time, so you better take me back mister!" She finished her rand with a jab into Vegeta's chest, to which he responded by chuckling darkly and simply saying:

"No, woman I don't think I will" With this statement Vegeta started to slowly rise out of the canopy and into the sky, an arrogant smirk still etched into his face.

Bulma was furious now and simply screamed at him until he was out of sight, giving up once his speck disappeared into the distance, or so she thought. In reality Vegeta had flown in a loop to observe the consequence of his revenge.

Stalking through the bushes he levitated up to the bows of a tree and watched Bulma from beneath the foliage, mostly for his amusement, but there was something else. A revenge like this was no fun if she died before giving him the respect he deserved, so he would make sure that she was relatively safe by his standards, before returning to find her face to face.

Bulma sat down in the centre of the clearing, her tears hoarse from shouting and her cries leaking at the thought of dying in this dark forest. Vegeta would come back wouldn't he? She questioned herself as she say in the springy green floor of her temporary home.  
Vegeta watched this display triumphantly, glad that he had knocked the woman down from her high horse, now she was scrambling around in the dirt like the monkey she so often claimed he was! Something small was also niggling at the very back of Vegeta's mind, he was disappointed. He was disappointed she had descended to this so quickly when she was alone, disappointed that the fire in her eyes had been drowned in tears, because life at C.C would be boring without his daily verbal spar...Shaking his head slightly he growled and focused, she needed some damned respect, and surely this would teach her...right?


	5. A moonlight beauty

Disclamer: I do not own DBZ...

It had been two days in the jungle, two days of hell for Bulma. She was a child of technology and was lost without the cold steel and perpetual hum of the world she helped to create with her father. Even when she had been in situations where she was not near a city, she still had at least a few capsules or at least a phone on her to survive or escape. Not any-more. Vegeta had made sure she had not received anything other than a new set of clothes to survive in the jungle, then he had just left her. "_I bet he doesn't even care if I die."_ She thought solemnly and continued to walk through the dense foliage blindly.

Vegeta silently observed the woman battle through the jungle as he had since he had dropped her, only taking brief breaks for a quick dose of sleep when he was sure that she would be secure. He was interested to see if the new day would bring any change in her demeanour, she had fallen apart briefly and screamed for Kakarot after he had left her there,

"_Kakarot_"Vegeta, despite how much he denied it or pushed the thoughts away, was irritated that she called for him. He did not really know why, maybe it was his name heard in such a desperate tone that reminded him that he would always be there, one step ahead of him, a constant reminder of his failure. "_No..NO"_Vegeta shook his head slightly and pushed the depressing thoughts away, he would be stronger, and he would reclaim his throne, along with his rightful place above that low-class scum.

Bulma stumbled, tired and so very hot, into a clearing and collapsed to the floor, curling into a ball upon the soft mossy ground. The night was as hot as the day, with the damp air retaining heat better than a Thermos, the result was a very wet and exhausted Bulma. There was no point in being irritated with the situation, her logical mind had taken over once her emotions had dried up after the first day, not she just wanted to get out and go home.

Sitting up and looking up at the moon she sighed into the humid air and thought about the man that had put her into this position. Vegeta. Had she really touched a nerve with that last comment about Frieza? She assumed that because he was a prince he had a relatively lavish life. Although Goku had said that he had once told him a slice of his past and, whilst he would not say exactly what he had said, he had mad it clear that he did not believe Vegeta was born a monster, nor was he beyond saving. Goku had finished with one remark that suddenly hit her and made her mouth go lax in realisation of what may have caused his outburst.

"_Listen Bulma, You may think that Vegeta is a typical arrogant bad guy. But from what he said before he died, it sounds like his life with Frieza was one of unimaginable pain for him, I think most people would crack from that treatment, but Vegeta stayed strong. Because that is all he had, and it still is. So don't be to harsh on him please"_ Goku's last words to her after she had invited Vegeta to stay where ringing in her ears as she thought about what had happened to him as a child. What could make a man as empty as Vegeta? As the moon rose in the clear, jungle sky, she pondered this as she fell into sleep.

Vegeta waited until he felt her Ki dip below her average to make his move. Stealthily he softly padded into the clearing and stood over her sleeping form. The moonlight shined down on her sweat-drenched, face which was a little flushed with exhaustion. She was beautiful. He had seen may worlds, and many people during his time as one of Frieza's butcher. Many of them where gone now, so many screams through the ashes of his destruction pierced his mind as he let his mind wonder briefly. Quickly blocking them out he sighed and looked at her peaceful form, maybe one day he would be able to come to terms with the screams of the dead, then he to could be at peace.

Snorting Vegeta pushed this weak thought from his mind and returned his attention to the blue haired specimen before him. The moonlight spilled over her pale face, making the small flushed on her cheeks more pronounced and giving her a glow in the dark jungle. Her Blue hair spilled over her head and thinned out at her shoulders, an eternal river to patch the two pools of water in her deep eyes. A stray strand of hair was flapping in her face and her face began to move in discomfort. Without knowing what he was doing, Vegeta reached down and brushed it away, leaving her face pure once again. She smiled at he loss of this distraction and briefly clasped her had around his before letting it drop back to her chest.

Stunned by her sudden movement Vegeta simply knelt over her and stared at her for a while until his thought had become clear. Rising up, cursing himself for his weakness he returned to the tree he had been watching her from to maintain his strength for the next day of observation. He was thinking about taking her home soon...soon she would beg him to be rid of this place.

(A/N) Sorry about the length and the lack of speech, this is more of a set up chapter, but I hope you enjoyed it none the less :D. It was quite relaxing to write.


	6. Protection

(A/N) I am very sorry about the long delay, I have been busy, but mostly just lazy . a thousand apologies :( anyhow I hope to get back into the swing of writing now!

The days in the jungle had not been kind to Bulma: the weather had not been pleasant to say the least, tropical rain had plagued her, the humid air only adding insult to injury. The last few days had been spent stumbling around in the mud, cursing the Saiyan Prince for all he was worth, despite her ample time in the jungle, she had yet to find any trace of civilisation. Despite her dire situation, considering she had found nothing worth eating, and no sign of water, she was not thirsty or hungry. After she had been unceremoniously dumped in the wilderness, she had considered this before going to sleep, planning to resolve it the next morning, however, in the morning she discovered that some capsules had been left for her, containing food and supplies. She briefly considered this, maybe Vegeta did not want to leave her here to die after all!

"Argh I can't take it any more!" Bulma cried, collapsing on the mattress of mud beneath her. Curling up for warmth, she attempted to get some rest in the sweltering heat.

"Foolish woman" Vegeta smirked as he spoke to himself. After he had approached her during the night, he had been careful to keep his distance, as the mud was doing nothing to remove his deep desires. Sighing and looking down from his tree, he considered this briefly before settling in for some much needed sleep, despite how little he usually slept, this was pushing him.

The night brought with it a danger for the blue haired heiress; from the shadows a panther watched her sleeping form in the cleating, the gentle rise and fall of her chest confirmed that she was indeed edible. Gently the beast stalked over to her sleeping form, sniffing her as he drew closer, hunger evident is his eyes. Snarling he rose his claw, as he eyes fluttered open at the sound.

Frozen in shock, Bulma could only watch as the large cat prepared to end her life, she didn't think this was how it was going to end! Looking into the merciless eyes of her killer, she silently prepared for the pain that was to follow, a tear forming in her left eye. Shutting them, the tensed and prepared for the strike, her last thought cursing Vegeta. What did she do? Why did he have to leave her in this god forsaken place, even with all this life, her last few days had been a living hell, which was coming to an abrupt end. But the blow never came.

Bulma heard a soft crack, and opened her eyes, the panther was slumped down upon her with a gloss over his now empty eyes. Scrambling away from his limp form she looked around for what had saved her, her eyes landing on another set of, normally merciless eyes. Not tonight though, the mask had cracks in it tonight, for behind the sheen of indifference she could see fear and care in those dark eyes, staring out at her from a face worn away from pain, till only the mask remains. Silhouetted in the moonlight, he continued to stare into her deep blue eyes, until she broke the silence, hesitantly she called out his name.

"V-Vegeta?" Whispering into the dark, she waited as she saw his head move, acknowledging her.  
Turning away from her he gazed into the undergrowth, pausing before he spoke.

"Woman, it's time to go, I hope you learnt from this experience" Vegeta considered this statement at the back of his mind._ What has she learnt? That I will be there?_ Unsatisfied with this he pushed these thoughts away, and picked up the trembling woman.

"Consider yourself lucky, I won't always be there to save your ass" Attempting to convince himself, Vegeta voiced his disagreement, shaking his head slightly, that was hardly convincing. Coming round from the shock of her near death experience, Bulma noticed his face was set hard against the darkness of the sky, attempting not to show any of the turmoil that raged inside him. Noticing this, Bulma decided to test this new theory of his.

"Oh really?" and with that, she wriggled free of his grasp and fell through the layers of cloud, surprisingly not scared, before she felt strong arms capture her, and lift her to the sky. Giggling slightly she looked up at the deep frown on his face. Grumbling he responded to her accusations.

"Well, since I put you here I have to make sure you leave in a similar condition to the one you entered in, I would never here the end of it from Kakarot or his howling mate." Considering this a suitable excuse he turned to face her. "Anyway, you where nearly killed, how are you so...happy" Bulma looked up into his confused eyes and shrugged.

"Well, I don't know, maybe it's because I know you won't let me die if you can help it...its that damned pride" Bulma signed and was surprised to see Vegeta's eyes furrow in annoyance. He looked away and flew faster over the ocean. Almost to himself, he muttered, despite the roaring ocean below Bulma caught his words as they whipped past her ears.

"It's that pride that has protected my sanity." The shield of indifference was briefly lifted from his eyes, and Bulma saw more than twenty years of pain and death haunting those black orbs. Then it was back again as the approached the shore. She shuddered to think of his life before earth and wondered if he would ever open his past to her, looking at the rapidly approaching C.C complex, she closed her eyes and rested her head against the cushion of his chest, it fit perfectly against her. Vegeta landed on Bulma's balcony and looked down at her, he was stunned to see how comfortable she looked in his hands; hands that had so much blood on them that her preferred not to dwell on it for to long, when you have a photographic memory its best not to think about the atrocities that you committed. Growling he dumped her harshly on her bed and stormed of in a flash to make up for some much needed training.

Bulma woke suddenly, only to see the princes retreating figure as it jumped of the balcony.  
"Asshole" was all she could muster before collapsing in the bed she had missed so much in her stay in the jungle, though the dark haired Saiyan still resided in her mind, the moment his eyes where not guarded still floating around her head ash she drifted of to sleep.


	7. Obligatory GR sequence

(A/N) Time for another update :D Hope some of you find the time to check out my deviantart (links in my profile) and leave a comment or two haha, but regardless, enjoy :) Also sorry about the random update times, I try to switch between this and my other story, if you haven't read it please check it out, I actually generally prefer writing that storyline lol, not to say this isn't entertaining :D

Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ etc.

Vegeta punched up the Gravity and set about his latest training routine, under 300 times gravity his body was in hell, every muscle fibre stretched to breaking point and burning with adrenaline. "_Super Saiyan_" The thought whispered through his head, again and again it sounded, a thousand times a day he was tormented by Kakarot, by his failure. Vegeta stopped for a moment, forgetting the ki blast bouncing over head, forgetting the intense pressure he was under, and his mind was blank as a single word echoed through his head once again. "_Failure_".

Suddenly the ki blast grazed his side, knocking him out of his silence as he grunted and fell to the ground, the ki orb still playing dangerously overhead. Vegeta saw the bots move again, this time to finish him. Vegeta growled, "_NO"_

"No, not like this" Vegeta roared. With a tremendous effort he summon what little strength he had left, pouring it into a single ki ball, straining to suspend it the hostile environment. He struggled as the force of his own ki fought against him, powered by will alone he screamed his rage and the two balls merged in a devastating explosion. Vegeta's eyes where blank as his energy engulfed him and shattered the barriers of his world of hostility.

Bulma was bored out of her mind: she had been listening to her mothers inane chatter for what seemed like an eternity, she felt sure her I.Q was dropping whilst she was listening. Her thought drifted, not for the first time that conversation, to the angry Saiyan prince. After the fiasco in the jungle he had moved for a complete block on social contact, moving completely into his training; honestly Bulma thought it was excessive even for Vegeta: his fuse was shorter than ever, anything that stopped him even for a moment set him of, and his obsession with Goku was rapidly spinning out of control, threatening to tip the scales in his mind and dip him into madness. "_even he must have his limits"_ Bulma tiredly thought about the princes self-torturous training. Even as this thought was bouncing around her head she heard an explosion that rocked the ground of the compound.

Running outside she saw the smouldering heap of the Gravity chamber, black smoke spewing out of the wreckage. Yamcha was not far behind her as she ran up and looked down worriedly at the sharp metal shards littering the ground, some looked to be unmovable from the capsule corporation lawn.

"I knew this would happen, hes been trying to do the impossible!" Yamcha decided to share his unhelpful input, almost causing Bulma to glare at him, was now really the time to insult Vegeta? But her worry was stronger than her anger at the moment, had he finally overdone it? She kneed down and started to franticly search amongst the rubble, searching for something, anything that would prove that her angry Saiyan would live to bother her another day...wait _her_ Saiyan? Where did that come from, though it's not like anyone else is claiming him...Her thoughts where interrupted by a bloody and broken hand punching through the metallic rubble.

Bulma fell backwards as Vegeta rose up from the rubble, his muscles trembling as the two humans looked on in shock. Blood was speared across his chest and shards of metal where all over his chest and arms. Bulma was the first to recover from seeing the battered Saiyan stand before her.

"Are...are you okay?" She timidly asked

"Of course woman, i'm Saiyan, i'm fine." Bulma relaxed a little and let out a sigh of relif, which quickly turned to anger as her mind processed the effect that the arrogant Saiyan could have had on her house.

"How dare you, you moron, you almost wrecked my house!" Bulma screamed at the Saiyan, not noticing the shaking legs beneath him. The only response she got was a small half-laugh from Vegeta as he attempted to stand straight, and with a decidedly unprincely feint he collapsed to the ground.

"Oh no" Bulma ran to his side and looked at his bloody arms, each with many cuts and scratches on them from the explosion, but both also contained layers of scars, relics of his life with Frieza, and not for the first time she shuddered at the thought of life with the tyrant; Namek had been bad enough. Turning him onto his back the glared up at Yamcha who seemed content to look down upon Vegeta now that for once he was in a superior position.

"Oi, Yamcha stop being an arse and help me with Vegeta"

"Do what now?" Yamcha questioned, not overly concerned with the unconscious Saiyan's pain.

"Grrr. Get Vegeta up to the medical wing NOW you moron, unless you want to have an android make a nice round hole in your chest!" Yamcha grunted and sighed, knowing that it was best not to argue with Bulma and that when she wanted something it happened, even if he did not care if the grumpy Saiyan got his new ticket to hfil, he deserved it down there anyway. Rolling his eyes he picked up the temporarily out of commission Saiyan and without much care, flung him over his shoulder, ignoring Bulma yelling at him for his lack of care as he walked to one of the medical facilities within the complex.

Bulma followed Yamcha, glaring scornfully at him for his lack of care, and set about mending the beaten down warrior, wrapping his wounds and placing in an IV. Whilst washing her hands after, since a lot of Vegeta's blood had been on the wrong side of his body, she looked over to him, he looked almost peaceful in his healing slumber, possibly the most peaceful since he had come to Earth. Smiling at this thought she sat down on a chair and laid her head on the desk, content to wait and watch the Saiyan to make sure he recovered fully, but a little nap couldn't hurt.

(A/N) Just a little short chapter detailing the gravity room sequence :D, I know its not the best section to do but it's a necessary part and it will be more interesting during the recovery I promise you. Also I hope Yamcha wasn't to much of an arse in this chapter, but that's how he sounds when Vegeta is hurt in the episode, and I just don't like the character really :P


	8. Healing

(A/N) another long wait, I'm sorry D:, i've been busy with physics and deviant art :P but its here now, and I'm trying to get more updates out than I am atm. Though I would like to know whether or not you want me to do as much on my other story, please just say in a review if you want me to focus more on this, or keep it 50/50 :)

Disclamer: I don't own DBZ, only the story-lines and characters that I create :D

Vegeta sat up for the second time that week on the hard hospital bed of the C.C medical centre. _Though it's a damn site better than the beds on Freiza's ship_ Vegeta thought gloomily, which where little more than glorified floors, and the only ones which where any different where those of Frieza himself, and his most trusted generals, which, needless to say, Vegeta was not one of. He sighed and looked over to the Woman, why was she here again? He thought he had been clear enough after he had told her to leave him alone whilst he was training, unfortunately a day or so later, one his ribs decided to temporarily leave his body, and many other bones where damaged in a particularly nasty fall at 350x gravity. Vegeta grimaced at the memory, he may not show pain, but that didn't mean he was a huge fan of it. Growing bored of his precious memories, Vegeta decided to engage his one source of entertainment, a certain blue haired anger machine. Smirking he decided to bring the woman out of her slumber.

"WOMAN!"

Bulma shrieked and fell off her chair, shaking her head she looked for the source of the noise, only to see it, half smirking, half-grimacing in pain as he sat up slightly to look at her on the floor. Growling she stood up and looked down to him on the bed.

"Well you jerk, was it worth the pain to see me on the floor?" Vegeta's smirk just grew wider.

"Of course."

"Jerk" Vegeta chuckled, wincing in pain as he did, closing his eyes to stop her seeing the pain that was flowing beneath.

"Are-are you okay?" Bulma timidly inquired. Vegeta opened his eyes, only to narrow them to slits when he looked at her.

"I don't need your sympathy woman, pain is for the weak. And I AM NOT WEAK!" Vegeta roared, rising up from the bed, before falling back down, coughing up droplets of blood as his body attempted to relax. Bulma jumped at this outburst and wondered just how much he had endured to attempt to destroy anything that even vaguely resembled a weakness. Almost as if his subconscious recognised this, he added in a whisper, mostly to himself, but loud enough so she could hear.

"You have no idea what I have suffered at the hands of that tyrant, I was in his 'care'" he spat the word viciously"for more than twenty years, I suffered pain every day, I was humiliated and brought to my knees, beaten to within an inch of my life, I-" Vegeta stopped and kept staring at the table, his eyes burning with hatred and pain. Bulma had been silent and looked at the intensity of his gaze, scared by it, no wonder he was...well like he was. Goku had told her that Vegeta had a rough past, and that he had told him something about it when he had died at Frieza's hand, that he had showed some emotion then, and only then. But she had no idea the extent of the damage that had been inflicted on his mind, much less how he survived such a brutal life without falling to insanity.

"Vegeta"

His head snapped up at the sound of his name, and he realised what he had said.

"Never speak of this again" He slowly and coldly said, gazing into her watery blue eyes. She nodded and settled back into the chair. Time passed and this time Bulma became bored, and decided to do something to entertain both her, and her bed stricken buddy. She looked over to him, and poked him in the side, and he grunted and glared at her.

"I'll be right back, okay Veggie? I have some things you may find entertaining whilst you are unable to train." Vegeta scoffed at this but remained still, internally intrigued by this new entertainment that was to be presented. Bulma walked back into the room with a few capsules and threw them onto a table besides the bed, revealing a set of board games. Vegeta looked on with a mild interest, he had known his fair share of these types of games as it was something the men used to keep themselves entertained, of course they where very simple and usual involved betting, which Vegeta had long since given up on, he had no need for the vast amount of money that he had in his galactic account, a small amount every time he completed a mission faster than expected, almost to mock him. Unlike other soldiers, Vegeta did not like to waste his money on such material possessions, besides it was not like anything was actually his, it was all the most powerful, Frieza. Other than that, most if not all soldiers used slaves for sexual pleasure, and spent their money on more skilled or less damaged goods. Even Raditz and Nappa had become corrupted by this trade, despite being the ones to teach him about a lot of Saiyan traditions. One of the oldest ones is that Saiyans where monogamous, i.e. they mated for life, with someone that they could trust and that would produce a strong heir for the bloodline. So despite frequent attempt by Frieza and even Nappa to change his mind, Vegeta remained a Virgin, if he could be called innocent in any respects, to honour his fallen race, and many a time, that had caused him some dire consequences from Frieza, who had called for him to rape women on a few occasions. Vegeta blinked and tried to stem the tide of old memories that threatened to overtake him once again, and focused on the game Bulma was not laying out before him.

Bulma had noticed him spacing out, and was reminded of victims of severe trauma, such as those who had been in wars, who could be sent back in memory to those times at the snap of a finger, and Vegeta had lived in a place worse than hell for more than 20, so he must have his fair share of memories to be dug up from the past. Putting it to the back of her mind, for future questioning, she returned to setting up the game in front of her, a favourite of hers as it involved using your brain to take a tactical advantage over the opponent. Chess. As she finished she quickly explained the rules to Vegeta and looked up to see him nod in understatement. She was also surprised to see him offer her the first move, and mover her pawn forward...

(A/N) Another short chapter and cliffhanger D: I'ma a mean guy ., I want to try and increase the chapter length, so hold on :P


	9. Cracked

(A/N) well, is not letting me put up a new chapter, so I will write another one now :D

Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ etc.

Bulma sighed in frustration, whilst she had started in the lead, once the prince had picked up the game, his strategic genius had given him win after win, placing them on even footing for the past few games, with the two reaching stalemates multiple games in a row. Reaching across Bulma took out one of his pawns with her knight, thinking about Vegeta's strategic values: she noticed that he had a great understanding in the importance of sacrificing the weaker troops for overall victory _not that that is surprising_ she thought, considering his past. Apart for him grumbling from time to time about the weakness of the king, Vegeta had a great understanding of the separate ranks and what was not needed in an engagement, and what needed to be protected. Throughout the game he had split his time between observing the game and watching her, as she made her moves and as he finished his, she could feel his eyes searching for any emotion or weakness as a reaction. Bulma was determined not to show any to him, she knew he had little tolerance for such emotions, and his face was a stoic as ever, the only thing ever showing was the faintest hint of amusement as he watched her moves or took a piece. _He would be amazing at poker_ Bulma absently thought: she would show him sometime, perhaps she would get the whole gang round to play.

"Stalemate"

Vegeta's voice broke her plans as she looked down to the chess board to see he had sneaked his king around the side of her forces, his defences falling as he reached her king. Bulma sighed and rubbed her eyes, they had been playing for hours. Vegeta looked down at the board once again, before relaxing back to the bed and closing his eyes, surprisingly the much needed mental exercise had relaxed him, and significantly improved the respect he had for the woman, technical genius was one thing, but she had the strategic genius to keep her from being his bait, at least at the moment, though he was still working out strategy's in his mind for the game, he would be victorious.

Bulma took in his relaxed state, and decided that now he might be able to open up to her a bit more about a few questions she had about his past, and himself in general. Timidly she touched his arm.

"Vegeta?" He opened one eye and looked at her with a bored expression.

"Yes, woman?"

"I was wondering if you would mind if we-we talked a bit. About ourselves?" Bulma cursed the clumsy phrasing and considered her changes slim to none that Vegeta would agree, because, he apparently couldn't care less about her life. She watched as he seemed to close his eyes and consider this request before sighing and responding.

"Would this be a pathetic, exchange of personal information via questions woman?" Bulma cringed at his tone and nodded to his half-open right eye, seeing him growl in slight frustration before closing his eye. She braced herself for the onslaught of insults that would follow, but they didn't arrive. Vegeta merely grunted and relaxed his head against the pillow. Bulma was stunned and didn't say anything to the semi-relaxed prince, irritating him with her silence. _Did she not want to talk? Blasted woman!_ Vegeta decided to vocalise his anger, as was often if not always the case.

"Well go ahead fool!" He once again grunted at her, his side clenching in pain as his anger rose. He did not know why he had agreed to such a dangerous situation, social interaction had nearly always ended disastrously for Vegeta, but for once he was, at least slightly at ease with his surroundings, and he thought absently _Who knows, I may even extract something to taunt her with at a later date_, though he was extremely aware that this worked both ways. Although, something was nagging him in the pits of his blackened heart, and disturbed by this, he quickly sought to destroy the strange feeling. Unaware of his inner turmoil Bulma recovered from her daze and was about to ask her first question when she was stopped by Vegeta raising his hand.

"Woman, if this goes somewhere I do not wish it, it will stop." With that threat in the air Vegeta relaxed and awaited her pestering. Bulma gulped and thought about this, she knew that Vegeta was none to keep about exposing his past, and would stop it when he thought questions where to sensitive in nature for him to answer. _Right_ thought Bulma _I will not screw up the one change I have to look into his life_, thinking about this she considered her question before asking.

"Well, okay, why are you still a prince, surely you should be a king now?" She hoped that this was not do far as she watched his face twist into a grimace, considering her question. Vegeta struggled with his mind before relenting, it was not like it was important to anyone but him any more, he considered dully.

"When my planet was destroyed it is true my father was killed, making me the heir to the Saiyan throne." Vegeta started, carefully considering his words" but as my planet was destroyed, I could not receive the official ceremony, so I am not king." Vegeta finished with an absent wave of his hand, but Bulma could see the pain beneath his eyes, they stayed in silence for some time before Vegeta grew bored and, despite his better judgement yet again, he engaged the woman.

"So when did you realise your...above normal intelligence?" Vegeta finished, purposefully avoiding the term genius, no need to boost her already ample ego. She smiled brightly at the grudging compliment from Vegeta, and thought about it before quickly responding.

"Well my father noticed me when I took apart the electronics that he had given me, you know children's toys and such" Vegeta had a slightly interested look on his face.

"So, you where more interested in electronics from the start?" he mused, she had shown that that was by far her preferred scientific endeavour, along with engineering. Bulma didn't even consider this as she nodded.

"Oh yes, I have interests in all topics but yes electronics and engineering are the main ones, specifically I enjoys advanced physics such as astronautic design, sigh as the ship me and my father designed for Goku." She smiled as she finished, glad that she could talk about her passion, if only in a small way, even Yamcha barely paid attention when she started speaking about science, and Vegeta seemed to at least be paying attention slightly, even if it was only to mock her at a later date, sighing she considered her next question.

"So, you have been in space for a long time, you must know of advanced technologies?" Vegeta considered this and replied with another question.

"As strange as it may seem woman, and as my skill in your board game demonstrated: I am certainly not lacking in intelligence, so you will need to be more specific. What type of technologies?" He asked in a bored tone, he had been expecting questions like this from her sooner to be honest, considering she was an addict to new technology. He could see her eyes lighting up at the prospect of discussing advanced science, in which his knowledge, whilst not as extensive as hers, was more than enough for him to be able to understand the contraptions he used. Bulma fired her question off as soon as he had finished.

"Oh anything you can tell me! I would love to know about the propulsions systems that you use? What about your medical systems? Goku said you had some sort of regeneration chamber?" Vegeta smirked at that, he had spent his fair share of time in those chambers, but his smirk fell as he made sure not to open the many doors that had bought him to those memories of pain that still haunted him.

"Well the regeneration chamber is quite simple, and considering your technology on Earth I am surprised your medical knowledge has not advanced beyond your primitive methods for such a fragile species" Bulma glared at him, but his voice was only tinged with malice, mostly his voice simply spoke the truth of his belief, since he was never one to sugar coat anything.

"Well I suppose we never had the need to do that, we have not warred since our major advances in technology, so we have had no real reason to focus on healing. I suppose Earth lives a mostly peaceful existence compared to the rest of the universe." Vegeta scoffed at this, it was an understatement, most of galaxy was barbaric and still under the command of Frieza's generals who had enough power to stop any competition, now the Saiyans and Frieza's top men had gone. Not to mention the remaining member of the cold family, cooler, who was just as bad as Frieza, just with a different degree of class. Bulma considered the technology of his race for a moment.

"Where the Saiyans more advanced than humans then?" Bulma felt silly for asking considering he had said they where, but somehow she thought there could be something behind that.

"We gained most of our advancements by taking over other species to my knowledge" Vegeta said, trying to drag up the lessons he had with Nappa as a child. "We where not naturally a scientific race, though some did have a knack for the subject. Kakarot's father was skilled and smarter than most Saiyans for example." Bulma giggled at this, considering how much the role had been reversed, Goku was amazingly strong, but lacking in common sense. Vegeta glared at her, but relented when he realised what she had been laughing at, insulting Kakarot was good in all situations.

"So we only advanced in areas of any particular race, unlike you humans we did not generally take time to advance our entertainment systems, instead using more traditional methods..." Vegeta finished with a wave of his hand. Bulma thought about this

, Humans did spend a lot of their time and money on entertainment...'well usually' Bulma thought sourly, as Yamcha had hardly gone out with her recently, whilst she accepted their relationship was rocky at best, he always used to have time for her, even at the start of his training, after a month anyway. Pushing this aside for later, she returned her attention to the handsome Saiyan in her bed '_wait handsome?'_ stifling another giggle she took another look at her house guest, even in bed with his multitude of scars and and a bloodied shoulder, he still looked all the prince that he was destined to be. '_the lost prince'_ she thought sadly, never to reclaim the throne that lay in the dust of his home-world.

"Could you show me one day princey?" Bulma cooed, suddenly having a rush of bravery against the imposing figure on the bed, she pinched his cheek like a baby. Vegeta was stunned into silence, but found himself unable to get angry as a bashful blush spread across his cheeks, quickly turning he attempted to control the embarrassment he was feeling.

"Aww is my little prince afraid of a woman's touch?" Bulma laughed, having caused one of the most powerful, and seemingly evil men on the planet to shy away from her.

"Silence your tongue woman, I am not afraid of anything, least of all you" Though his glare was harsh as usual, his voice had not yet regained its usual malice, Bulma hoped it wouldn't for a while, when not threatening her he was kind of sexy" '_ahh bad thoughts, I love Yamcha...don't I?'_ Once again she pushed away the thoughts of her boyfriend, only to finish her last thought. That, '_hell, he __is even sexy when he is insulting me'_ The bad boys had always been her type after all. She was brought out of her ponder by Vegeta's aforementioned voice, in a quieter tone, almost as an afterthought.

"Maybe one day I will deem you worthy to learn about my race...or rather about the heritage of an extinct race." Bulma heard the pain that he had held on to all his life echoing through his words, ad he set his head to one side and seemed to consider his own words. Bulma place her hand on his arm and looked into his shocked eyes as he faced her.

"Well you would be doing them a service to pass on their customs and knowledge. Besides your not extinct just yet Vegeta." He smiled hollowly at this and Bulma was disturbed at how empty his eyes where now, lacking even the shield he erected around his soul, just a hole remained.

"No, not gone yet" He rested his head to one side again and in a whisper said something that she would not have expect from him of all people.

"Maybe it would be best if I had gone with them" Closing his eyes she took this as her signal to leave, still reeling in shock of the admittance that Vegeta even considered his life to be worth so little as to be better lost as a child, than suffered through to the end. Could it really be that bad, his life with Frieza had been no party, he had said so himself, but was it enough to crack the resolve of the proud Saiyan prince? Her thoughts whirling with images of Vegeta ending his own life, Bulma slipped into bed, where she tossed and turned for much of the night, unable to be at peace because she feared for his mental state.

(A/N) and a nice depressing end to a longer chapter :) tune in for more, and more reviews = more chapters :P


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